New paintings and regular art updates.
He stayed the night again and I woke up with a very happy cat snuggled on the bed. So much so, when I got up and made a coffee I couldn’t get back in bed easily because he was weighing the duvet down! I think he’s transitioned to an indoor/ outdoor cat now. Which is good because he can spend winter in the warmth of his new home.
Guess who I found had snuggled up on our bed! He only stayed in for a couple of hours then went back out. Last night he came in late and only went out at 7.30am.Hes very polite, goes and yowls by the back door when he wants out, or if we have gone to bed he comes up and wakes me up! After three years outside that we know about this is really good progress. Goodness knows why he was abandoned, he’s very sweet.
Nose down
Whiskers twitch
Paws paddle
Snore
Asleep
Put a paw
Over your nose
Chase mice or birds
Toys or string
Wake up refreshed
Having slept
Time to race
And chase……
And cute,
And weird
And wary.
her eyes are bright
As shiny buttons
She jumps and leaps
With mad exuberance.
Behind the tv
Up the curtains
Racing upstairs
Before you can say go!
Brother and sister
I love them, my boy cat (back) and girl cat (front).
I adjusted this photo to black and white because there were too many colours and I thought it would be better with a filter to make the image more coherent. These are both small cats, the girl has a smaller head but a bigger body (she likes her nosh), boy is a healthy weight, not too big. Both are happy and are learning to integrate with the boy cat from outside, even though he’s bigger than both of them, they boss him!
On the settee… Indoor and outdoor cats are tolerating each other. These are the two boys, the girl cat sleeps upstairs. There is a bit of trouble over sleeping spots. They seem to like a spot and take it, then the other one comes along and snuggles there instead.
One thing I am trying is stroking their cheeks. Apparently the spray you can buy with pheromones to calm cats down is based on the scent they give off from the scent glands in their cheeks. So I guessed if you stroke one cats cheek, then stroke the other one it might help. It’s certainly helped them get used to each other..
Hmm. Almost bedtime, will I have to get u to let outdoor boy out later? We will see….
Scrutiny, he watches, he’s the outdoor boy. Making sure you love him, have treats ready. A tickle behind his ears, under his chin, cheek rubbed. His cut nose is healing, not caused by our cats…
Then a look, aloof, I’ve had enough, I’m going out. He stands, stretches, front paws first, then back legs, doing the ‘downward cat’. Yowl, let me out. Gently closing his eyes looking up at me. I am under his spell. I’m OK while he’s out but as soon as he comes back. I’m gone. Xx
The outdoor cat trusts me enough to show me his belly and he let me stroke it. Cats are very nervous of doing this, so they really are careful about rolling over and showing their tummies. I feel very honoured that he’s let me do that.
He’s back in this evening out of the cold. The other cats are continuing to tolerate him. I think soon he will be a (mostly) indoor cat too!
Oops the outdoor boy is sitting in my indoor boys favourite spot on hubby’s chair. He is getting his paws under the table. Indoor boy is sitting by the halogen heater trying to ignore the situation, but I know his nose is out of joint… (it’s been three days since he sat on me, he’s more distant, especially when outdoor boy wants to have some love.) Now I need to make sure they are all happy. The outdoor cat will probably stay a while, get warm, then go back outside. They are all well fed and indoor girl is on her bed upstairs…. Cats, it’s like watching a soap opera… ‘get orf my chair kitty’ ‘why are you lettingbhim sit there, hooman?’
Talking to a friend about our outdoor cat I explained that he’s generally in our garden which is about the size of two terraced houses and their yards…. There are lots of other cats about that come and go (I fear for the bird population but they have plenty of cover). There’s a shed and a summerhouse, two cat beds and cushions. He’s a big cat, twice the size of my other two, well-groomed. Tidy, but not a dominant cat which is why I think they can integrate…
He comes in and sleeps sometimes but he’d found a space on the settee and now the indoor boy cat sleeps there. I will have to find him a new space, it all seems to be about territory. I also think he gets too hot when we have our heating on. He will eat, then mooch over to the back door and yowl to be let out… Such is the life of an abandoned out door cat, we want to love and care for him, but he hadn’t made his mind up fully about us.
X
Mallaband-Brown